By the Caribbean Journal staff

Canadian travel giant Sunwing is adding a pair of new routes to the Caribbean this winter out of London, Ontario.

The company will begin launching new weekly flights from London to both Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and Cayo Santa Maria in Cuba.

The new Punta Cana flights will launch Dec. 18, running through April 1, 2020; the new Cuba route will run from Dec. 17 through April 7.

Sunwing will also be resuming flights from London to both Montego Bay, Jamaica and Varadero, Cuyba.

“We’re delighted that our service is continually well-received by our customers in the London area and that they appreciate having convenient access to tropical destinations from their local airport. Thanks to their ongoing support we’ve been able to expand our services with flight offerings to two of our most popular destinations, Cayo Santa Maria and Punta Cana,” said Andrew Dawson, Sunwing’s president of tour operations.

— CJ

The post Sunwing Launching More New Punta Cana Flights appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By Alexander Britell

Marriott International is getting into the all-inclusive game, with plans to debut a new all-inclusive platform that will begin with five new resorts in the wider Caribbean-Mexico region.

In a major foray into the increasingly competitive all-inclusive sector,  the company said it had signed management contracts with developers who will invest more than $800 million to debut five new all-inclusive resorts.

“The diversity and global nature of our brands give guests the opportunity to find the perfect match for nearly any travel experience or destination,” said Tina Edmundson, Global Brand Officer for Marriott International. “By expanding our portfolio with this new offering, we are opening up a new way for travelers to explore our incredible brands – from Westin to W – through a new, all-inclusive lens.”

That will include a new 650-room all-inclusive Autograph Collection resort in Punta Cana, which will open its doors in 2022.

The other four properties will all be set in the Riviera Nayarit in Mexico, with resorts under the Ritz-Carlton, Westin, Autograph Collection and Marriott brands.

It’s the second major foray for Marriott this year, following its announcement in April that it was entering the luxury villa sector.

The Mexico resorts will total 1,440 rooms.

“Our new all-inclusive resort platform is a natural progression for Marriott International,” said Tony Capuano, Marriott International’s Executive Vice President and Global Chief Development Officer. “It will provide the ownership community a game-changing value proposition for their luxury and premium resort projects around the world, while providing guests a new vacation option with brands they trust.”

The company said it would further expand the new all-inclusive portfolio to popular leisure destinations worldwide, “with a mix of new-build properties and conversions of existing resorts.

“We are thrilled to be developing an all-inclusive Autograph Collection resort in the Dominican Republic in collaboration with Marriott International,” said Mihail Popov, CEO of DIT Hotels, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. “Working with Marriott International means we have access to its brand, design and business expertise as we develop our resort in Punta Cana, and once we open, we’ll benefit from the company’s operational excellence and base of enthusiastic Marriott Bonvoy members who are always seeking out new experiences.”

The Riviera Nayarit properties will be developed by Mexico City-based Artha Capital, which plans to create NIA, an all-inclusive destination in which the four aforementioned resorts will be based.

“We are thrilled to be working with Marriott International to create a first-of-its-kind, exciting vacation destination in Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit that will feature four of the company’s distinct brand experiences,” said Gerardo Férnandez, Managing Director, Hospitality Platform, Artha Capital. “By bringing together a mix of premium and luxury brands on our beautiful, oceanfront site, we have the opportunity to redefine what ‘all-inclusive vacationing’ truly means. We have high confidence in Marriott International, the power of its brands and loyalty program, and are confident that this project will be a success.”

The post Marriott’s New All-Inclusive Platform Will Launch in Punta Cana appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Caribbean’s fastest-growing resort company is continuing to ramp up its development pipeline in the wider region.

Apple Leisure Group has already signed six resort management deals in the Caribbean-Mexico region this year through its AMResorts brand, whose portfolio now includes nearly 9,000 rooms.

The Mexico and Caribbean expansion includes new all-inclusive hotel properties in Cancun, Acapulco, the Riviera Maya, the Dominican Republic and Curacao.

That includes the 429-room Breathless Cancun; the 286-room Dreams Curacao; the 500-room Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana; the 605-room Dreams Acapulco; the 427-room Now Emerald Cancun and the Sunscape Akumal Beach Resort, with 360 rooms.

The new deals represent the first-ever Dreams property in Macao and Acapulco, and Sunscape’s first ever property in the Riviera Maya, with the latter set to debut in October.

The soon-to-debut Sunscape Akumal.

“Mexico and the Caribbean remain the backbone of our portfolio. Both regions exhibit solid market fundamentals, with the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s latest arrival report showing that 20 Caribbean destinations have already reported considerable growth in 2019,” said Javier Coll, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of ALG. “These positive market conditions, combined with ALG’s unmatched network, give us great confidence in both the short- and long-term potential for the region.”

Out of its wider 9,000-room development pipeline, AMResorts reportedly plans to debut more than 2,500 new rooms by the end of this year, according to a statement from the company.

That will continue into next year, with two highly-anticipated openings: one, the new Secrets St Martin Resort and Spa, the first-ever Secrets resort in the French Caribbean; and the aforementioned Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana.

Both of those resorts are slated to debut in the first half of 2020, the company said.

For more info, visit ALG Development.

— CJ

The post Apple Leisure Group’s Big Caribbean All-Inclusive Expansion appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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